‘Agniveers’ that were recruited under the "Agnipath' scheme, has now become eligible for tax relief, according tot he Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday, 1 February, 2023.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday during her Union Budget speech 2023 said that the payment received by the ‘Agniveers’ from the Agniveer Corpus Fund is proposed to be exempted from taxes.

“Deduction in the computation of total income is proposed to be allowed to the Agniveer on the contribution made by him or the Central Government to his Seva Nidhi account", Sitharaman added.

Last year, the Centre had unveiled the Agnipath recruitment scheme to carry out recruitments to the armed forces on a short-term basis. The government said the efforts were aimed at creating a youthful profile of the armed forces and train the ‘Agniveers’ for new technologies and improve their health levels. Despite protests which turned violent in some states, the Centre refused to roll back the scheme.

The finance minister also announced other schemes for the youth, including the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 to for skill development of lakhs of youths in the country. At least 30 Skill India International Centres will be set up across different states to boost skill development.

However, the biggest takeaway from the finance minister's budget was the increase in the income tax rebate limit from ₹5 lakh to ₹7 lakh. Sitharaman said the new tax regime will be the default tax regime, thereby reducing the number of tax slabs to five and increasing the tax exemption limit to ₹3 lakh.

Meanwhile, the finance minister said that it has proposed to provide exemption to any income arising to a body or authority or board or trust or commission, (not being a company) which has been established or constituted by or under a Central or State Act with the purposes of satisfying the need for housing or for planning, development or improvement of cities, towns and villages or for regulating any activity or matter, irrespective of whether it is carrying out commercial activity, said FM.